A Thankful Hodgepodge - Volume 54

I guess one of the many things I am thankful for is that there are still questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 54.  Joyce is so very right, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the Hodgepodge now, would it? Here are Joyce's questions for this week's and my responses.  Hope you enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to you!

 

1. Let's start with something controversial...dressing or stuffing? What's it called at your house and what's included in your recipe...cornbread? oysters? sausage? chestnuts?   We actually eat them both.  When I was a child my mom would alternate years between stuffing and dressing.  We have had sausage, oyster, chestnut, rosemary (my favorite) stuffings,  and dressing with, or without sage. My mom would scour recipes for the whole year looking for a new stuffing recipe.  If I eat dressing I want the onions and celery sauteed before added and a little sage added to it...usually in the form of poultry seasoning.

2. Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?  I don't compare myself to anyone.  I am who I am, unique, and there is not another one like me on this planet. 

3. When were you last inside an airport?  August when I returned from the SMAK trip to Nantucket. I love to fly but prefer to drive.  I am so afraid I will miss something if I fly.

4. What is one side dish that absolutely must be included in a turkey dinner?  Sweet potatoe casserole/souffle. Although I don't eat sweet potatoes I love to make this dish and make it well.  My family likes it with the brown sugar and pecan topping.  One year I made a carrot souffle (using carrots instead of sweet potatoes) and everyone loved it too. 

5. What Christmas song do you dread hearing?   "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"  I hate that song.  I love Christmas Carols...but don't like the ones like that one.  John Denver sang beautifully....but his "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas" makes my skin crawl.  I am a Christmas Carol purist!

6. If someone approaches you and asks for money do you give it to them? Do you drop money 'in a tin cup' that belongs to a person on the street? Do you have a specific charity you support during the holiday season and/or year round?   I give to United Way.  I do help people but I don't go in blind.  I buy food for families who need it....I don't usually give money.  I have taken people to get breakfast or a meal....but don't usually give them money for them to do it for themselves.  I am not going to enable someone to support a bad habit because I feel sorry for them.

7. Share a favorite Thanksgiving memory. If you live in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving share a favorite memory associated with food.  Our faculty volunteered and work with a local lawyer and fed the elderly and hungry here in Alex City.  There was something about putting food on the plate of someone and seeing the appreciation/twinkle in their eyes. After the dinner the lawyer provided some entertainment for them.  My parents went and they had a ball.  

8. Insert your own random thought here: "Thanksgiving dinners take up to eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence." -Erma Bombeck